Turnstiles and tickets for this Italian village

A village called Puglia in Italy, famous for being the heel of Italy’s famous “boot”, has started charging travellers an entry fee to access the town. Visitors need to pay to roam around the cobbled streets, piazzas and terraces during the festive period.

The €5 (about R80) entry ticket includes a bag of popcorn, a doughnut, candy floss and a drink.This initiative started early in November and will continue until early January, with the idea being to encourage travellers to explore the village during winter, so that tourism to Puglia is not restricted to the warmer months.

So far, over 30 000 visitors have made their way to the village. This initiative has enticed more tourists to the remote areas of Italy. Local mayor Domenico Vitto, said “We want to make it less seasonally dependent. With this initiative, shops, hotels and restaurants have remained open.” He also confirmed that residents from the village have freedom of movement without being charged and entrance fee.